NOTE: Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long, what with college work and all. Finally, we get to meet the Wizard of Oz! Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Meeting the Wizard of Oz

"Did you hear that?" Scarecrow turned to the group with a huge smile. "He'll announce us at once! I've almost got my brain!"

"I can faintly hear my heart beating!" Tinman rubbed his chest happily.

"Spike and I will be home in time to apologize to my family for all of the hurt I caused them!" Twilight clapped her hands.

"In about an hour from now, I'll be the king of the forest!" Lion announced in a majestic voice. "Long live the king!"

The big feline walked over to the terraced garden near the steps of the palace, and he began to sing.

[Lion]

I'm going to be a noble king

So all ingrates beware!

I've got the wits and the strength

And large amounts of hair

I'm gonna be the main event

Like no king was before

I'm brushing up on looking down

With a mighty ROAR!

The fauna and the flora are gonna swing

Oh, I just can't wait to be king

Won't be scared of this

Won't be afraid of that

Won't be afraid at all

I'll be the top cat

Trees would kneel and mountains bow

The bulls and chipmunks would kowtow

The time has come

As someone said

To talk of many things

This may be true

But I would rather stick to talking kings

It easy to be nervous when

Your enemies come to call

But I would eventually face my fears

And be the bravest king of all

And I'd show compash for every underling

Oh, I just can't wait to be king

Everybody look left

Everybody look right

Everywhere you look I'm

Standing in the spotlight

Eventually, everyone else began to sing and dance along with him.

[All Five]

Let every creature go for broke and sing

Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing

It's gonna be the lion's finest fling

[Lion]

Oh, I just can't wait to be king

[Twilight Sparkle]

Oh, he just can't wait to be king

[Lion]

Oh, I just can't wait...

[Twilight Sparkle]

Just can't wait!

[All Five]

To be king!

When the singing was over, the other four bowed down to Lion, who stood up tall.

"Your Majesty, if you were king, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?" Twilight asked.

"Not nobody, not no how!" Lion retorted, as he walked over to the doors of the palace.

"Not even a rhinoceros?" Tinman asked.

"Imposserous!" Lion waved his paw in dismissal.

"How about a hippopotamus?" Twilight asked.

"Why, I'd thrash 'im from top to bottomus!" Lion barked.

"Suppose you met an elephant?" Spike asked.

"Well, then I'd wrap 'im up in cellophant!" Lion growled.

"What if it were a tyrannosaurus?" Scarecrow asked.

"I'd show him who's king of the forest!" Lion huffed.

"How?" all four of them asked.

"How?" Lion repeated, before giving them a royal monologue. "Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the Sphinx the Seventh Wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the 'ape' in apricot? What do they got that I ain't got?"

"Courage!" the others all said.

"You can say that again" Lion chuckled.

Without warning, the guard came out, and banged his spear onto the ground, scaring the others in the process.

"The wizard says 'go away'!" the guard shouted, before he went back into the palace and slammed the door.

The group of friends were all stunned, not by the guard's harshness, but by the wizard's response. "Go away?"

"Looks like we came a long way for nothing" Scarecrow sighed sadly.

"And I was so happy," Twilight whimpered, almost on the brink of tears. "I thought I was on my way home."

"Don't cry, Twily" Spike said softly.

"We're going to get you in to see the wizard" Tinman spoke comfortingly.

"But how can we?" Scarecrow wondered.

"Would it do any good if I roared?" Lion suggested.

"...At who?" Spike asked.

"I don't know" Lion shrugged.

Unknown to them, the guard was looking in on them through an open window near the palace doors.

Twilight slowly sat down on the stairs, and started crying, while her friends gathered around her. "My mom was so good to me, and I never appreciated it by running away and hurting her feelings. Professor Discord said that she was sick. She might even be dying, and it's all my fault! I'll never forgive myself! Never, never, never!"

Inside the palace, the guard was sobbing uncontrollably with streams of tears pouring down his cheeks. Feeling sorry for Twilight, and unable to contain himself, he quickly opened the palace doors, making them turn around to face him.

"Oh, oh, please don't cry anymore!" he continued to sob. "I'll get you in to see the Wizard somehow. Come on in. I lost my mother at young age myself!"

Without another word, the group all got up and entered the palace and headed for the throne room at the end of the long corridor. There were no windows on either side, so the corridor started getting dark with every step they took. Eventually, the lion lost any confidence he had and stopped in his tracks.

"Wait a minute, fellas," Lion spoke, accidentally startling everyone else. "I was just thinking. I really don't want to see the wizard this much. I think I better wait for you outside."

Lion turned to leave, but Scarecrow held him back. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, he's just scared again" Tinman sighed.

"Don't you want the wizard to give you some courage?" Spike looked up at him.

"I'd be too scared to ask him for it" Lion started to weep.

"Well, then we'll ask him for you" Twilight rubbed his arm.

Unaware that the tip of his tail was in his paws, he pulled on it really hard, causing him to shout and scare the others in the process.

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"Somebody pulled my tail!" Lion sobbed loudly.

"You did it yourself" Scarecrow corrected him.

"I...oh, I'm such a butter-paws" Lion chuckled weakly.

"Come on" Scarecrow advised them, but as they took one more step, the doors to the wizard's chamber slowly opened on their own.

"COME FORWARD!" a creepy voice yelled from the room.

"Tell me when it's over!" Lion covered his eyes with his paws, as they got closer to the doorway.

Once they entered the throne room, they took a good look around. It was a big, round room with a high arched roof, and the walls and ceiling and floor were covered with large emeralds set closely together. The one thing that stood out was the throne itself, which was placed in the center of the room. In the center of the chair was an enormous head, which had a face that looked very similar to that of an alien. On both sides of the throne, there were smoke stacks that shot out huge amounts of smoke and fire. This sight completely terrified them to no end.

"Oh, look at that! Look at that! I wanna go home!" Lion cried, as he tried to run away, only to still be held back by his friends.

"I am Oz, the Great and Powerful! Who are you? Who are you?!" the head spoke in a booming voice, making the visitors tremble.

Twilight nervously stepped forward and looked at the giant eyes looking down on her. "If...if you please, I'm Twilight, the small and meek. We've come to ask you—"

"SILENCE!" the wizard yelled, causing Twilight to run back into the arms of the tinman.

"Oh, Jiminy Crickets!" the teenage girl whimpered.

"The Great and Powerful Oz knows why you have come. Step forward, Tinman!" Oz ordered.

Tinman cautiously made his way to the front of the throne with shaking legs. "Yes...?"

"You dare to come to be for a heart, do you?" the wizard growled. "You mournful, metal, mish-mash heap of junk!"

"Y-y-yes, sir...y-y-yes, your Honor," Tinman said shakily. "You see, uh, a while back, we were walking down the yellow brick road, and—"

"QUIET!" the head shouted.

"Oh!" Tinman ran back to his friends and embraced Twilight.

"And you, Scarecrow, have the effrontery to ask for a brain?" the Oz roared, making the straw man run over and bow in front of the throne. "You scampering, sickening sack of straw!"

"Y-y-yes, your Honor...I mean your Excellency...I mean your Wizardry" Scarecrow bowed once again.

"ENOUGH!" the wizard barked.

"Gah!" Scarecrow jumped off his knees and scampered back to the group.

"And you, Lion! You came to me to ask for some courage, did you?" the head asked.

The lion slowly walked forward, attempting to speak, but he couldn't find any nerve to say at least a word. "U-u-uh..."

"ANSWER ME!"

That's all it took before the big cat fainted and fell onto his back, surprising his friends, and causing them to run to his side.

"Oh!" Twilight gasped, before glaring at the green head. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You frightened him when he came to you for help!"

"SILENCE, whipper-snapper!" the head yelled back. "The generous Oz has every intention of granting your requests."

"What was that?" Lion immediately woke up and looked around, while the others helped him onto his feet. "What did he say? What did he say?"

"He said he's gonna grant our requests!" Spike barked happily.

"But first, you must prove yourselves worthy by performing a very small task" the wizard added.

"Whatever you desire, we will do it" Scarecrow accepted.

"Anything, anything at all" Lion nodded his head.

"Very well. Bring me the broomstick of Chrysalis, the wicked witch of the west" Oz ordered.

"Except maybe that" Lion added.

"Yeah, in order to do that, we'd have to kill her to get it!" Tinman pointed out.

"Bring me the broomstick and I'll grant your requests. Now go!" Oz snarled.

"But, uh, what if she kills us first?" Lion asked.

"Silence!" Oz ordered, before more smoke and fire erupted from the throne, as the he began to sing in his still thundering voice.

[Wizard]

Bring me the broomstick of the witch of the west

I've spoken so you obey

Bring me the broomstick and I'll grant your request

Now do precisely what I say

I said go...

Be off and be on your way...

Bring me the broomstick of the witch of the west

These are your orders

Now OBEY!

"I'm already gone!" Lion shouted, as he ran out into the hallway and jumped right through the green window, instead of using the door.

Sorrowfully, the others exited the palace, wondering what to do next. What could they do? Would they be up to the task or not? They just didn't know.

NOTE: There's the tenth chapter of the story. I hope I didn't make it scary for the younger readers. Also, the song I Just Can't Wait to be King sung by the Cowardly lion was inspired by the video created by FantasyFanFlix. I do NOT own the rights to the song. Anyway, catch ya later!